Fei Bi’s premonition soon came true.
“Here, carry this on your back. This is our luggage—make sure to keep it safe.”
“Oh…”
Liya tossed the packed luggage toward Fei Bi.
Fei Bi caught it instinctively, and then—
She was sent flying.
“Cough—ugh~”
The immense impact and unimaginable weight nearly made Fei Bi throw up her guts.
“You… what did you pack in there?” she asked in terror.
Liya replied with a cheerful smile: “Stones.”
“What??? Stones??”
Fei Bi almost choked.
She stared at Liya, incredulous.
“You want me to carry a huge bag of stones with you guys?”
“No.”
Liya shook her head.
“That’s what I thought… You scared me.”
Fei Bi breathed a sigh of relief.
“It’s two huge bags.”
As soon as Liya spoke, Pika dragged another tightly packed bundle out of the warehouse and tossed it to Fei Bi.
This time, Fei Bi was completely buried under the luggage.
…
Meanwhile, Joen had also finished packing.
He changed into ordinary commoner clothes—simple and plain.
Aside from his young, handsome face and athletic, well-built physique, everything else was utterly unremarkable.
As soon as he stepped out, he saw Fei Bi barely struggling free from the “heavy pressure,” dejectedly dragging the two large luggage bags.
Seeing Joen approach, Fei Bi’s eyes shifted.
She immediately put on a pitiful look and struck up a conversation:
“Brave One… Miss Lily’s luggage is so heavy…”
“I’ll take it.”
Joen habitually offered to help others.
But the next second, Liya interrupted him: “No! Boyfriend! You can’t take it! She has to carry the luggage herself!”
“Huh?” Joen froze.
“Because I’m going to train her!”
Liya hopped in front of Joen, bouncing twice.
Joen immediately understood and lifted her onto his left shoulder, positioning her as he always did.
“Don’t you think she’s too weak?”
Liya swung her little legs, looking down with a smile.
“Someone this skinny would get bullied too easily. So I’m going to use devil training to make her develop a tough body worthy of a security guard in no time!”
“Oh!” Joen nodded.
He couldn’t quite understand, but since Lily was doing it, she must have her reasons.
He trusted Lily, just as rain trusts the sea, and snow trusts winter.
Fei Bi almost coughed up blood.
But with tearful eyes full of emotion, she hesitated and still put on a pitiable expression:
“Miss Lily’s luggage is filled with stones…”
She wanted to hint to Joen that “Lily” was abusing her, that she was the poor victim.
“Stones?”
Joen paused slightly, walked over, and opened the bundle.
Shhhh—
A cascade of gleaming gold coins rolled out.
Seeing Fei Bi staring at her in shock, Liya spread her little bear paws and said matter-of-factly:
“What? Aren’t precious stones still stones?”
Fei Bi thought: ‘You’re a real beast!’
No wonder it was so heavy.
The weight of gold—no one knew it better than her, the “Minister of Finance” in charge of the money pouch.
“With this much gold, she probably can’t carry it…”
Joen said.
“It’s fine. Miss Maid will definitely find a way.”
Liya spread her paws again.
But Fei Bi wanted to say something more.
Liya shut her up with a single sentence:
“You can also choose not to go.”
With that said, Fei Bi had no choice but to silently accept the outcome.
She borrowed a handcart and, with great effort, finally loaded the two huge bags of gold coins onto it.
Preparations before departure were complete.
However, just as the three of them were ready to set out and leave the Duke’s mansion, Joen suddenly stopped in his tracks.
His gaze turned sharp as he stared at an empty spot near the entrance.
Nothing seemed unusual there—at least to Fei Bi and Liya, there was nothing special.
Without a word, Joen moved in an instant and reached out, grabbing fiercely.
“Ow! Ow ow ow ow!! Stop pulling—!! I’ll go bald if you keep at it—!! I’ll really go bald!”
With a noisy shriek, Ailita was yanked out of the distorted air by Joen, like a chicken being picked up.
She still held a honey-grilled fish that was more than half eaten, her mouth smeared with grease.
Without the slightest embarrassment at being caught, she said matter-of-factly:
“What! Can’t I just pass by? You’re a Brave One, why are you so domineering!”
“Pass by?”
Joen’s face darkened.
“You passed by my yard while invisible?!”
“I admit my route was a bit thoughtless.”
Ailita took another bite of the grilled fish, her mouth full as she mumbled vaguely, “But you can’t treat a lady like this! Haven’t you considered the possibility that my hair is fragile? Or that I’m wearing a wig? What if you yank it bald on a whim?”
“Don’t change the subject. You sneaked into my home invisible—were you trying to spy on something?”
Joen’s face remained dark.
“Come on, why make it sound so ugly? Can’t I just be here to play with you?”
Ailita seemed to have no emotion called “embarrassment.”
With a playful grin, she elbowed Joen like an old friend.
“We Elf Guides? This is way too fun… Hey, I overheard you guys talking about going incognito? Count me in! How could such a righteous mission be missing me?”
“Are you trying to cause trouble?” Joen said warily.
“How could that be?” Ailita immediately shook her head with a solemn face, as serious as if she were proposing marriage. “Our Elf race is the most proper. We never cause trouble—only do serious business.”
As she swore and vowed, her eyes darted sideways, gazing with intrigue at the pink Pupu sitting on Joen’s shoulder.
Human World Survival, that blockbuster show, wasn’t finished yet—of course she wasn’t that idle.
In fact, her deliberate surveillance of the Brave One’s mansion did have its own purpose.
The failure of the [Emerald Dream] potion had deeply surprised her.
The Brave One fell for it, but this Pupu didn’t?
That was clearly abnormal.
Whether this Pupu recognized the [Emerald Dream] and secretly swapped the wine glass, or had the ability to transfer the effects of [Emerald Dream]—
Either way, she was undoubtedly hiding a huge secret.
Perhaps… she really was the “dead” Demon King Lia.
Demon King Lia had appeared in most Elf ruins, so it wouldn’t be strange for her to recognize the [Emerald Dream].
Ailita had been monitoring the White Wolf Duke’s mansion precisely to study this Pupu, watching for any slip-ups.
If she really was Demon King Lia, and Ailita could find some evidence…
Heh~
Then the fun would really begin!
When that happened, she’d definitely find a good opportunity to reveal the whole truth and enjoy Joen’s beautiful expression of shattered worldview, disbelief, and agony.
Hehehe…
Thinking of the fun parts, Ailita couldn’t help but let out a mischievous, cute, wicked laugh.
But soon, the laughter came to an abrupt halt.
“Sorry, but we don’t need anything else. You should go back.”
After saying this, Joen hoisted Ailita up, bent his legs, twisted his waist, and assumed a standard javelin-throwing stance.
It looked like he was about to launch Ailita “whoosh” into the sky.
“Negotiate! Negotiate!”
Ailita’s arms flailed wildly in panic, her face pale.
“Wait! Wait! I’m very useful! I can use Elf Speech to disguise your true appearances! I also know many ranger spells that can help with reconnaissance and tracking!”
Joen instinctively looked at Liya.
If Liya didn’t nod, then this “Elf javelin” was ready to be thrown.
Although he couldn’t send Ailita flying far like in his dream, giving her a little lesson was still fine—so she wouldn’t sneak a peek at him again for no reason.
Unexpectedly, Liya pondered for a long time and then gave an answer that surprised Joen.
“Perhaps… we can keep her.”
Liya didn’t know that this Elf was spying on her.
Men die for wealth, birds die for food.
Liya also had a small greed inside her, and it was this greed that drove her to make such an irrational decision.
She wanted to trick Ailita into giving up the [Emerald Dream] recipe.
First, she could try using the [Emerald Dream] potion to cultivate special elite Pupus.
Second, if the mark ever itched again in the future, she could trick Joen into drinking it and have another golden millet dream.